


5 Times Peter Passed Out In Front of Tony + 1 Time He Passed Out Alone

by wordscorrupt



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Gen, Hurt Peter Parker, Hurt/Comfort, Iron Dad, Medical Inaccuracies, Parent Tony Stark, Passing Out, Precious Peter Parker, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Whump, tony stark - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-22
Updated: 2019-03-14
Packaged: 2019-08-06 03:40:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16380692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wordscorrupt/pseuds/wordscorrupt
Summary: Peter has an issue with passing out. Thankfully Tony is there to catch him...for the most part.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> What, I have other WIPs that I haven't updated in a decade??? Psh, why not start another one on top it.

The first time it happened, it sent a revolting wave of shock and fear through Tony. Even now, months later, thinking back to that time, he couldn’t help the rapid increase in his heartbeat. 

Tony had his back to Peter, fiddling with a few wires on one of his thrusters. He briefly turned around to ask Peter to hand over a tool from the bench next to the kid. 

“M’kay,” Peter replied and Tony reached behind him, holding a hand out for the tool but rather than receiving the item, he heard a resounding bang instead. He whipped around to the unwelcome sight of Peter splayed on the ground, eyes closed.

“Peter!” Tony shouted, as he all but threw the thruster away from him in his haste to get to the kid. 

Tony called out the teen’s name a few more times as he ran over. His knees pounded on the ground as he threw himself next to the teen, first checking to make sure the damn kid was breathing. He hovered an ear just a few inches away from the kid’s face, closing his eyes in relief as he felt the small wisps of air against his cheek. 

“Peter? Come on, kiddo,” Tony begged, one hand smoothing the boy’s curls back while the either he used to gently place two fingers underneath the boy’s chin to measure his pulse. Fast but steady. 

“Alright, you’re okay, kiddo,” Tony murmured, if only to himself at the moment. He got himself situated on the floor before carefully pulling Peter into his lap, with Peter’s head resting on his chest and continued to try and wake the kid up.

Tony was just short of slapping the kid awake when Peter’s eyes started to flutter open and a few moans escaped him. 

“Ow,” Peter whined, a hand reaching up to grab at his head. He winced as he brushed against a good sized knot forming on the back of his head. 

“Welcome back to the land of the living, buddy,” Tony quipped and Peter’s eyes drifted to his mentor, taking in the worried look that Tony had failed to mask. He allowed himself a few seconds to try and solve the mystery of how he woke up in the arms of mentor. 

“You want to tell me how we both ended up down here?” Tony interrogated, watching as Peter’s eyes darted around the entire lab and then back up at Tony. 

“I’m still trying to figure that out too, Mr. Stark,” Peter replied quietly, voice absent of all the energy he had carried into the lab when he came in that afternoon. 

Tony sighed before he gently slipped the boy off his lap. Peter frowned at the loss of contact, but a few seconds later he found himself being lifted up into the arms of his mentor. He instinctively reached up to wrap his arms around the man’s neck. He would have normally fought being carried like a child, but at the moment he was content to be in Tony’s safe arms. 

He closed his eyes and laid his head on the man’s shoulder, allowing himself to be whisked away. 

“Lights, Friday,” Tony called out as he entered the med bay. Peter jolted awake, not realizing he had dozed off. God, he was exhausted. 

“I’m okay, Mr. Stark,” Peter argued as the man carefully deposited him onto his back on one of the beds. 

“Kid, you don’t go fainting in my lab and tell me you’re okay,” Tony argued.

“Mr. Stark!” Peter whined, “I didn’t faint.”

Tony gave him a very unimpressed look, “I’m sorry, kid. You passed out. Sorry for my choice in words. How inconsiderate of me.” 

Peter let out a pout. Tony turned around for a few moments before turning back around, wrapping a blood pressure cuff around the teen’s bicep. A pulse monitor was clipped on his finger of his other hand while a thermometer poked at his ear. 

“I’m not sick, Mr. Stark,” Peter told the man as he peered down at his temperature reading. 

“Then why did you pass out? When’s the last time you ate something, kid?” Tony questioned, throwing the thermometer back onto the table next to him and glanced over at the othe readings.

“A few hours ago, at lunch!” 

“And what did you have to eat?” Tony prodded further.

Silence.

“Peter!”

“I can explain Mr. Stark! I forgot my lunch at home and I had no money with me. And usually Ned shares with me if that happens but he was at home sick today. MJ threw an apple at me and it filled me up for a little while!”

Tony looked like as if he was about to either bang his head against the wall or throttle Peter. Or both. Definitely both. 

Tony let out a string of curse words under his breath as he marched over to a fridge in the corner, returning back with a couple bottles of orange juice and on his way there he was directing Friday to send an order down to the cafeteria, enough to practically feed an army. 

“I’m sorry, Mr. Stark. I didn’t know I would pass out!” Peter apologized and Tony gave him a stern look as he dropped down onto a stool next to the bed and rolled over. He uncapped one of the bottles and handed it over. Peter took it without a word.

“Drink it. All of it,” Tony ordered, leaving no room for argument. Peter gulped down the drink, happily accepting the sugar into his body and when he was done chugging that one, Tony was already ready with the second bottle. 

“That one too,” Tony demanded, taking the empty bottle and throwing it into the trashcan a few feet away. Tony let out a huge sigh as Peter finished the second bottle, giving his mentor a sheepish look as he handed over the empty bottle. 

“You know, kid. You passing out in my lab and giving me a scare is not doing any wonders for my health,” Tony claimed, reaching up to move the head of the bed upright and then gently pushed against Peter’s chest until he was resting against it. 

“I’m sorry, Mr. Stark. I really didn’t mean to,” Peter apologized, letting himself be pushed down. He watched as Tony reached over and grabbed a blanket, bringing it up to rest over Peter’s chest. 

Tony let out a huge sigh before getting up, only to take a seat on the edge of the bed instead. Peter stayed quiet, biting at his lip as he looked down at his lap before he felt Tony’s fingers touch his curls. 

“I don’t want this to ever happen again kiddo,” Tony asserted, gently running his fingers through the boy’s curls. He gently pushed the kid’s head until it was resting against the pillow and brown eyes were looking up at him. He continued to smooth the kid’s hair back away from his forehead, every once in a while, letting his thumb rub small soft circles on the tiny forehead. 

“I promise I won’t forget my lunch again,” Peter swore and Tony shook his head. 

“Never mind that. I’m taking full control over your lunch account,” Tony saw Peter gearing up to argue, “Nope! That is not up for argument at all. Any claims you were going to make have already been overridden after you passed out.”

Peter sighed, closing his eyes. 

“I guess so, Mr. Stark,” Peter whispered and Tony chuckled. 

“There we go. Isn’t it nice when everyone listens to me and we do things my way?”  


“Um…”

“Don’t start a sentence you don’t want to finish, kiddo.”


	2. Chapter 2

“You trust me, don’t you, Peter?” Bruce asked, putting on a pair of gloves, giving the teen a reassuring smile.

 

“Um, not when you’re holding a needle, sir,” Peter replied, voice shaking, warily eyeing the needle in the older man’s hand.

 

Peter heard Tony scoff from behind him and he swiveled around in his chair to glare at his mentor. Tony returned to the look with a raised eyebrow before reaching over and ruffling the kid’s hair. Peter swatted his hand away before looking back at the scientist.

 

This is not what he had in mind when coming over to the compound today to hang out in the lab with Mr. Stark and Dr. Banner. Apparently, the medical staff was offering flu shots today and Tony kindly offered up Peter to Bruce the second he walked in.

 

“But I’ve already had mine!” Peter tried in vain to argue, but that was shot down quickly by Tony who had confirmed with May beforehand. 

 

“But, Mr. Stark!” Peter had then begged as the older man all but dragged him over to the chair he was currently sitting on.

 

“No more butts, other than yours in that chair, kiddo. Neither May or I want a sniffling spider-baby on our hands, so let Bruce do his job and there might be a lollipop in this equation afterward. Do you want me to hold my hand?”

 

“No!” Peter balked. He wasn’t a baby. He might not be the biggest fan of needles, but he was not about to get his hand held like a child, by none other than Mr. Stark himself.

 

Mr. Stark smirked before nodding over to Bruce and then looking back at Peter, “Then be a good spider-kid and let Bruce do his job.”

 

And here they were now.

 

Tony watched from a few feet away as Bruce helped Peter roll up the sleeve of his right arm, before wiping away a patch of skin with alcohol. He felt a tug at his heart as the kid started to tense but he kept his distance for Peter’s sake, not wanting to crowd him. In a few short seconds, Bruce instructed the teen to take a deep breath before jabbing him with the needle.

 

Peter elicited a small cry and not a moment afterward, Bruce took the needle out, safely disposing of it and placed a small bandage on the puncture site.

 

“All done, Peter. Nothing to it,” Bruce murmured, giving the kid a proud grin.

 

“Yeah, I guess. Thanks, Dr. Banner,” Peter replied as he pulled his sleeve down, wincing as it trailed over the sore spot.

 

And that’s when similar to everything else that happened in Tony’s life, things turned sour.

 

Peter got out of his seat, took a step and promptly, uneventfully crashed down onto the ground.

 

“Holy shit!” Tony exclaimed before running over to the kid. Bruce was already kneeling down, placing two fingers against the kid’s wrist.

 

“It’s okay, he’s okay, Tony,” Bruce reassured the frantic man as he fell down beside the teen.

 

Tony gave him a bewildered look before focusing back on Peter.

 

“How in the world is he okay, Bruce? He just collapsed!” Tony gently lifted Peter’s head with one hand, cushioning it, while the other gently swept over his face and hair.

 

“It’s common for people to pass out after getting a shot, Tony. Give him a few moments and he’ll be back with us,” Bruce reasoned. Tony give him another baffled look.

 

Bruce got up from the floor before walking over to the couch set up near a corner of the lab and motioned Tony to bring Peter over.

 

“Come on, kiddo,” Tony whispered then hoisted the small teen up and into his arms. Peter’s head flopped back and the man took a few moments to get Peter situated comfortably in his arms. Tony nuzzled his cheek against the boy’s soft curls as he walked over to where Bruce was standing next to the couch and carefully put Peter down. Bruce made sure that Peter’s feet were elevated on a few pillows before allowing Tony to take over. He pulled one of the blankets off the back off the couch and tucked it around the boy before kneeling down next to the couch.

 

“Time to wake up, kiddo. Come on, buddy, you’ve had enough time to rest” Tony begged, running his fingers through the boy’s soft curls.

 

Bruce left and came back with his medical bag, explaining to Tony he wanted to do a quick once-over. He shined a flashlight into the teen’s eyes, felt for any bumps on his curly-haired head, measured his blood pressure and pulse and lastly took a quick listen to his chest.

 

Tony never left his spot, at times making Bruce practically step over the man.

 

Bruce finished with his exam and was tucking the blanket back around Peter when the boy’s eyes started to flutter open. Tony all but pushed Bruce out of the way and gently grabbed a hold of Peter’s face.

 

“That’s it. Open your eyes for me, kiddo,” Tony guided.

 

Peter, in one of the rare times, listened to the older man and opened his eyes.

 

“Mis’er S’ark?” Peter mumbled, dazed eyes looking up at his mentor.

 

“In the flesh,” Tony replied with a grin, moving one his hands from Peter’s face to caress his cheek with his knuckles instead.

 

Peter groaned, shutting his eyes and then tried to get up from the couch but Tony stopped him instantly.

 

“Nuh-uh. You’re on bed rest for the rest of day, kiddo. Doctor’s orders. It’s what happens when you have no self-preservation skills at all,” Tony declared and Peter shot him an offended look.

 

“Don’t look at me like that, young man. You’re the one that decided to give Sleeping Beauty a run for her money,”

 

“M’not sleepin’ beau’y,” Peter grumbled choosing not argue with the man about his lack of self-preservation but decided to lay back down at least.

 

“Of course not. You’re much more beautiful.”

 

“Mis’er S’ark!”

 

“Oops, sorry, I meant handsome.”

 

Peter’s groans resonated throughout the lab.


	3. Chapter 3

If Peter was being honest with himself, he would have bet the minuscule amount of money he had in his pocket that he wasn’t even going to make it in the driver’s seat without passing out, let alone onto the actual road.

 

But, there he was, slowly but surely making his way down the road a few miles away from the compound, his mentor strapped in the passenger seat next to him. 

 

It was only the fifth time he had been driving, and the first time on an actual road as opposed to the late night parking lots he was used to cruising around as his aunt tried to help him get the basics down.

 

And apparently, when Aunt May asked Tony to help take over the driving lessons while she was out of town, Tony took that as “please force my young nephew into one of your expensive Audis that costs more than what I would make in a lifetime and whisk him away onto the road”. 

 

“Kiddo, I think I saw a turtle pass us,” Tony’s voice cut into his thoughts and Peter rolled his eyes.

 

“You’re hilarious, Mister Stark,” Peter rebutted, forcing himself to press down on the gas pedal harder. He grasped harder on the steering wheel, not wanting to lose control of the car.

 

“So, I’ve been told,” Tony commented with a grin as he settled back against his seat and looked over at the kid, “You know, I promise you won’t go flying off into space if you press on the gas just a little bit more, bud.”

 

“That’d be awesome.”

 

“Kid, the world can barely handle Peter Parker in an actual car on the road, let alone a flying one.”

 

“If I can swing through the city, flying a car would be a piece of cake,” Peter argued.

 

Tony made a buzzing error sound, “Nope. Feet on the ground, means car on the ground, spider-baby.”

 

Peter grumbled and Tony grinned, reaching over to ruffle the kid’s hair affectionately. Peter was too scared to take a hand off the wheel to slap away at his mentor’s hand but did offer him a half heartfelt glare.

 

Throughout the conversation, Peter had unconsciously eased himself to a faster, yet steady pace. Part of it might have to do with the fact that Tony’s voice just naturally put him at ease, but neither one of them would ever dwell too much on that fact.

 

Tony let the silence settled around them for a few minutes before asking, “Think you’re getting the hang of it, bud?”

 

Peter nodded, “I think so. So far, so good, right?”

 

“If you say so. How about you say we take this bad boy out downtown?”

 

Peter let out an adorable squeak, turning around to look at him with comically large eyes, “W-what? No! I’m not ready!”

 

Tony hung his head back and laughed, a fond look falling upon his face as he looked back at Peter and said, “Don’t worry, spider-baby. I don’t have that much disregard for my life to take you onto the streets just yet.”

 

Peter physically deflated as he breathed a long sigh, offering another glare at his mentor for putting him and his heart through that ordeal.

 

“I like driving with Aunt May better.”

 

“Aunt May doesn’t have an Audi.”

 

“Yeah, well she doesn’t try to give me a heart attack every few minutes, Mister Stark.”

 

“Got to make sure that big heart of yours is still ticking, kiddo. Lord knows you make sure mine does.”

 

“What does that mean?”

 

“It means, a certain someone needs to stop trying to get stabbed every time he goes on patrol each night.”

 

“Mister Stark! That was on-“

 

Peter was cut off by Tony shouting at him to watch out and Peter had just enough slam on the brake pedals as he saw the SUV cut in front of them, but it wasn’t enough to avoid the collision. Peter crashed into the side of the SUV and just a millisecond later the airbags inside deployed, practically knocking the two people inside against each other from the force.

 

“Peter? Peter, kiddo, you okay?” Tony called out as he came to his senses. He pushed the airbag away from him, unlocking his seatbelt so he could better reach over to his kid.

 

“Mister Stark?”

 

Peter’s face came into view and Tony let out a sigh of relief. He was terrified he was going to be met with a face muddled with blood and injuries but there was barely a scratch on the kid’s face. He gently grabbed a hold of Peter’s face, thumbs reaching out to wipe at the tears that were cascading down.

 

“S-so s’rry, M’ster S’ark. D’dn’t s-see him,” Peter sobbed, his entire body shaking from head to toe. Tony gently shushed him, smoothing his hair back gently away from his forehead.

 

“Wasn’t your fault, buddy. They cut us off. You did the right thing by slamming on the brakes. Anyone else might have tried to swerve and make a bigger mess. You had some quick thinking,” Tony praised, one hand wiping away at the kid’s tears while the other continued to run fingers through his curls.

 

As if on cue, the other driver marched his way towards Peter’s side and started yelling.

 

“You fucking idiot! This was your damn fault!”

 

Peter let out a terrified whimper and Tony saw red.

 

“Oh fuck no,” Tony seethed. Peter reached out to grab a hold of his mentor, but Tony was too quick for him, pushing his car door open and practically throwing himself out the car.

 

“If you have any ounce of fucking IQ, I recommend stepping the hell away from my car,” Tony warned as he walked towards the man, who didn’t seem to get a clue.

 

“Is that your little shit in the front seat? He caused all of this! I had the right of the way,” The man argued, practically frothing at the mouth. Tony had to keep himself from decking this guy in the mouth, as he heard the sound of sirens coming closer. Last thing Peter needed to see was Tony getting hauled off in cuffs for strangling a man.

 

“Don’t you dare look at him! I have you cutting us off on camera, you damn idiot. It seems like whatever brain cells you had were knocked out during the crash.”

 

Tony saw the guy making a fist, surely ready to launch out at him. Peter saw this too and he tried to grab the car handle, but each time his clammy hand just slipped away.

 

Tony, however, was ready to deploy his wrist gauntlet any second and send this man into the next town over, when the first police cruiser rolled onto the scene and the man in front of him relaxed his fist.

 

“Good choice,” Tony commented and the man huffed.

 

Tony went to the driver’s side to help Peter out of the car while the man approached the officer, surely to get a head start on his version of the accident but Tony didn’t care. He had the proof and the man was just going to dig a bigger hole for himself.

 

“Come on, kiddo. Just take a seat here for me, bud and we’ll get you some fresh air,” Tony murmured gently, helping Peter out of the car. He wrapped an arm around the trembling teen, leading him towards a green patch of grass on the side of the road.

 

Peter pressed his face into Tony’s shoulder, willing himself to stop the tears that kept flowing down his cheeks. He saw from the corner of his eye, the other driver pointing towards Peter, face red and teeming with anger. Peter’s fist around the back of Tony’s shirt curled tighter and he felt Tony’s hold around him getting more secure.

 

“Don’t pay attention to anything he’s saying, bud. You have nothing to worry about, just let me take care of this okay?” Tony whispered into his ear and Peter managed to nod his head. Tony pressed a quick kiss to the side of Peter’s head before helping him sit down.

 

“When the paramedics arrive, I’m gonna have them check you over, kiddo, but for right now just sit tight while I go talk with the police officer, okay? If you need me, just call out,” Tony told him and Peter nodded his head, wrapping his arms around himself, taking a few shaky breaths. Tony sighed softly, pulling his jacket off before throwing it gently over Peter’s shoulders.

 

“Just a few feet away, buddy,” Tony promised once more, pressing another kiss to Peter’s head as he got up and made his way over to the other driver and police offer.

 

Peter watched Tony walk off, reaching a quivering hand up to wipe at the snot and tears that had accumulated on his face. He pulled his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around his knees before placing his head down and closing his eyes.

 

He must have drifted off because the next thing he knew he was gently shaking awake by Tony, being told that the paramedics were there.

 

Tony’s heart had skipped a beat when he saw the kid with this eyes closed, but it was no surprise that this event had probably worn him out.

 

With that in mind, Tony should have seen this next part coming.

 

He held out a hand for Peter to grab so he could hoist him back up. Peter reached up to grasp his hand and Tony gently pulled him back up. Suddenly, Peter lurched forward and Tony had barely enough to brace himself for impact as Peter collapsed in his arms.

 

“Shit!” Tony cursed before calling out for help as he managed to get both him and Peter down on the ground in one piece. The paramedics that had been waiting near the back of the ambulance rushed forward, one of them quickly locating a pulse.

 

“Pulse weak but steady,” The woman called out before leaning in closer, “Kid’s still breathing.”

 

She turned to look at Tony offering him a reassuring look and telling him, “He’s okay, Mister Stark. He just passed out. Let us take care of him, okay? If you want to help, you can raise his legs for us. Get that blood pumping back up to his brain.”

 

Tony didn’t realize the stronghold he had on Peter and the fact that he would have to let go in order for the paramedics to help his kid. He hesitantly agreed, letting one of the paramedics take Peter from his arms and lay him down flat on the ground. Tony was quick to get up and help raise Peter’s leg, urging for the blood to start pumping soon.

 

He watched as one of the paramedics took Peter’s blood pressure while another strapped heart monitors to the kid’s chest.

 

“He’s coming back to it. What did you say his name again was, sir?” The first paramedic asked.

 

“Peter. His name is Peter,” Tony answered, keeping his eyes solely on Peter’s face though watching as the kid’s eyes fluttered open.

 

The woman nodded her head before focusing on her young patient, “Peter, honey. Open your eyes for us, sweetheart. There you go.”

 

Tony urged one of the other paramedics to take over holding Peter’s legs and he rushed over to his instead.

 

The panic that had settled on Peter’s face from waking up in such a position wiped away immediately as Tony knelt down next to him and he caught his mentor’s eyes.

 

“Kiddo, you are really making sure my heart’s working today,” Tony teased, smoothing the kid’s hair back away from his forehead, hating how cold Peter felt. Peter frowned and Tony gently cupped his cheek.

 

“Peter, do you remember what happened?” The woman asked, shining a light into his eyes. Peter whined, shutting his eyes closed. Tony reached over to grab his hand, gently squeezing it in reassurance.

 

“Car accident,” He murmured.

 

“Did you hit your head anywhere, honey?”

 

“I-I don’t think so?” Peter replied. The woman looked up at Tony who shook his head.

 

“Do you feel pain anywhere?” She asked as she started moving her fingers across his chest and stomach, gently pushing down. Peter shook his head and Tony squeezed his hand once more.

 

“Okay, sweetie. We’re gonna move you onto a stretcher and then into the ambulance. You just relax and let us do all the hard work, okay? Your dad gonna be here with you the entire time,” The woman instructed him.

 

Tony’s eyebrows practically flew into his hairline after that last comment while Peter seemed completely unfazed. He had just nodded his head and allowed the paramedics to do their job.

 

“There’s a compound, just a few miles away from here, with a fully equipped medical facility. I prefer if we could take him there,” Tony told the nurse once they had Peter situated in the back of the ambulance.

 

The woman gave him a knowing smile, nodding her head, “We can arrange that Mister Stark.”

 

Hours later, Peter was asleep, snoring softly, curled up on one of the beds in the medical bay, attached to a few machines that were keeping a steady watch of his vitals.

 

Just for an overnight observation, Bruce had told Tony once he explained to him that Peter mostly likely passed out because of a sudden low blood pressure due to stress from the accident. Bruce had done a systemic head to toe exam on the teen to make sure no injuries were getting missed and finally came to this conclusion. Tony had thanked him before sitting down on the chair next to Peter’s bed and hadn’t moved since then.

 

“What am I gonna do with you, kiddo?” Tony murmured, running his fingers through Peter’s curls. He got a soft snore in response and his lip curled up. He lifted the blanket higher and tucked it around Peter more securely before leaning over to press a tender kiss to the kid’s head.

 

Maybe he could settle with this for right now.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, as always, life gets in the way unfortunately :( But I hope you enjoy this one!

When Peter had successfully convinced Tony to come to one of his academic decathlon competitions, he knew he a mission on his hands.

 

Step one was trying to get through security without setting off any alarms. Step two was practically crawling his way through the hoard of parents and other students with his head down trying to keep a low profile. Step three was finding the perfect sit that would still allow him to see Peter but keep him hidden away from any other prying eyes.

 

He had a feeling that today was his kid’s moment to shine and he didn’t want anything to overtake it, even himself.

 

But, oh boy, was his kid going to shine, just for all the wrong reasons.

 

Tony watched in fascination as Peter’s hand blazed across the piece of paper in front of him, working out the equation that the host had presented in the final round of the Math section. He could see even from several feet away the concentration etched across the kid’s face, mirroring the expression that Peter always had when they were down in the lab.

 

“You got this, Pete,” Tony murmured underneath his breath and not a second later, as if Tony’s words gave the boy the final push, Peter slammed his hand on the buzzer and with a charming grin gave his answer.

 

“Correct.” The host remarked and half the audience cheered and clapped while Peter was basically swallowed hole by the rest of the team in celebration as he had just won them that round. Tony grinned trying to fight back the urge to jump up and holler out how proud he was of his kid.

 

Once the celebration ended, everyone took back their places and the science portion promptly began. This time it was in a trivia setting with a buzzer in front of each kid and a timer counting down the seconds for someone to chime in with their answer. Tony kept his eyes firmly on Peter and every now and then the boy would glance over with a timid smile and Tony would respond with a reassuring thumbs up.

 

About fifteen minutes into the round and the two schools were neck and neck with each other. Peter and another girl - PJ? DJ? MJ? (“Just call her ‘scary’ Mister Stark”) - had been answering most of the questions.

 

The host presented the next question at the same time Tony’s phone buzzed and he fished it out of his pocket.

 

He glanced down at the text from Pepper reminding him - or rather, scolding him about the meeting he had tomorrow at 8 am -

 

_You know the one I had to reschedule five times because you kept missing it?_

 

Tony rolled his eyes, pocketing his phone once more. He’d call her after he watched his kid win this competition.

 

His eyes traveled back up to the stage and the instant his eyes landed on Peter, he knew something was not right. For beginners, the kid’s skin tone had been dialed down to practically zero and Tony could see the sheen of sweat plastered across kid’s forehead, emphasized by the harsh lights pointing down at him from above.

 

All of Tony’s alarms went off at once and it was as if the large panic button inside his brained was pushed down with full force.

 

_Not good. Not good. Something’s wrong. He’s not okay._

 

Before Tony could even get up from his seat, his thoughts were broken by a thundering bang, followed by the echoes of shocked gasps.

 

“Is he okay?”

 

“What happened?”

 

“Is there a doctor around?”

 

Tony didn’t waste another second before he was running towards the stage, heading over to the small circle of high schoolers surrounding his kid.

 

“Move.” Tony firmly ordered, pushing a small blonde haired girl practically off the stage in order to get to his kid. There was a teacher and the host kneeling next to Peter and Tony shooed them off to the side as well, but not before ordering the host to take the curtains down because he was not about to let his kid be a spectacle.

 

Finally, his eyes landed on his kid, moving straight to his chest, watching the small chest rise up and down.

 

_He’s breathing. Good. Good._

 

Unaware of the murmurs filled with his name, gaped mouths and fingers pointed his way, he immediately dropped onto his knees - damn, that hurt - before reaching over and cupping the kid’s cheek.

 

“Peter.” Tony tapped the other cheek lightly and when the boy didn’t stir, his next step was running his fingers through the kid’s curls instead. It took only a few seconds for his eyes to flutter open.

 

“M’ster S’ark?” Blurry eyes glanced up at him and Tony could see the confusion etched across the kid’s face and that's when he saw that at least a little bit of color was returning back to his skin.

 

“Give him some space.” Tony barked at the rest of Peter’s group members who quickly shuffled away from the pair. Peter watched his group move away, still trying to piece together how he ended up in this position in the first place.

 

“Peter, kiddo, look at me. Eyes up here.” Brown eyes followed his instructions and Tony smiled as their eyes met. “Hey, bud.”

 

Peter blinked once before giving a lopsided smile. “Hi, M’ster S’ark.”

 

“Do you know where you are?”

 

“Um.”

 

“Give it a minute, bud, it’ll come to you.”

 

Tony in the meanwhile barked orders. One kid to go and grab water and a cold towel. Another to raise Peter’s legs. He stripped one kid of his team jacket and balled it up in order to stuff it underneath Peter’s head. He sent a quick message to Happy, instructing him to meet them at the door in the back of the building.

 

“Easy bud,” Tony murmured a few minutes later as he helped Peter sit up after lying on the cold floor now for a good while. He rested him against the back of one of the podiums, bringing a bottled water up to his lips.

 

“Small sips.” Peter thankfully listened and after a few gulps, Tony took the bottled water back promising Peter he could have some more in a few minutes.

 

“Sometimes his blood sugar gets low.” Tony turned to the new voice and saw a kid, the one who had helped raise Peter’s legs (and later remembering it was Peter’s best friend) holding out a granola bar to him.

 

“No kidding.” Tony grabbed the granola bar with a thanks, before ripping the wrapper and breaking off a small chunk. He brought it up to Peter’s lips where the kid gratefully took the bite. Tony broke off a few more small chunks of the granola, gently hand feeding the teen. That, followed by a few more sips of water and Peter was nearly back to normal. There was still a faint paleness to his skin and when Tony pressed the back of his hand to the kid’s forehead, he still felt a little cool and clammy. He was still going to drag him down to the medbay to be checked over by one of the doctors, but they were out of the woods now.

 

“God, I’m so stupid,” Peter mumbled, pressing himself into Tony’s side as they walked towards the car a few minutes later. He had absolutely refused to be carried off the stage in front of all his peers.

 

“You mean it’s stupid to not sleep or eat any breakfast the day of a huge academic competition?” Tony commented as he opened the door, letting Peter slide in first.

 

Peter grumbled, pressing his face into his mentor’s chest as Tony climbed in. “Don’t be mean.”

 

“I am far from mean, buddy.” Tony reached around, grabbing Peter’s seatbelt and locked him in.

 

“It’s so embarrassing. One of the parents was probably filming and I know Flash is already telling everybody at school.”

 

“If anyone gives you any trouble, they’ll be dealing with me.” Tony wrapped an arm around Peter, hugging him close as Happy started to drive off.

 

The teen peered up at him, eyebrow raised. “How are you going to ‘deal with them’?”

 

“I have resources.” Tony threw a smirk down at Peter, gently flipping an errant curl off the teen’s face.

 

“Please don’t kill anybody.”

 

“Hmm. No promises.”

 

“Mister Stark!”

 

“Hush,” Tony cooed, wrapping both arms around the kid, rubbing circles on his back. “Relax and try to rest, kiddo.”

 

Peter sighed but relented, his body sagging against Tony. Tony had thought the kid dozed off for good but a few minutes later he heard a tired murmur.

 

“Thanks for coming in the first place, Mister Stark.”

 

Tony smiled, glancing down at the kid curled up, practically on top of him, eyes closed. He pressed a small kiss to the mop of curls. “Wouldn’t have missed it for the world, kiddo.”


End file.
